When reporter Ben Tracy left WISN-Channel 12 in 2001 to be Marquette University’s top public relations flack, some observers whispered that he sold out his credibility and slammed the door on his journalism career. At the time, even Tracy cast doubt on a return to reporting: “I’m not naive. I don’t think that would be an easy jump.”
This month, Tracy is taking the leap back to television as a reporter at WCCO-Channel 4 in Minneapolis, a move that’s so rare it has tongues wagging from here to Minnesota.
What’s the big deal? Clearly, it has everything to do with the poor image of public relations. If you’re a spokesperson, it really doesn’t matter who or what you represent. Skeptics will call you a flack, shill, mouthpiece, puppet, apologist, tool, spinner, henchman or, worst of all, liar. Much of the name-calling comes from journalists who work with press agents every day, and it suggests a passionate distrust of the PR industry.
“Once you’ve been an advocate for a person or position,” says a veteran Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter, “you’re always suspect.”
To name a few who have crossed over, WTMJ–Channel 4 reporter Lynn Sprangers joined then-Milwaukee County Executive Tom Ament, WDJT-Channel 58’s Don Hoffman went to Milwaukee Public Schools, Milwaukee Magazine’s Steve Filmanowicz joined then-Mayor John Norquist and WISN-Channel 12’s Carlene Orig joined Mayor Tom Barrett.
So why do so many reporters end up in PR jobs? Becky Crowder, a PR instructor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, says journalists considering a career change find that their public personas, communication skills, contacts and media savvy make them prime candidates for jobs as spokespeople. “They understand how the media works, know what a good news story is and know how to approach the news media in an effective way,” says Crowder.
Once reporters go down that road, however, they almost -never turn back. “Journalists think you’re soiled or tainted if you’ve gone to the other side – like you sold out,” says Crowder.
Just ask Bill Graffin, a former Channel 12 anchor who took the thankless job of speaking for the much-maligned Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD). “The trust and credibility here is not great,” Graffin confesses. “I’d have a tough time getting anybody to hire me unless I went out of state.”
Improbably, some former journalists are finding they can return from jobs on the “dark side.” “Many of my reporter friends are saying welcome back to the light,” Tracy chuckles.
If former reporters practice PR with honesty and integrity, say some news managers, their added perspective, contacts and inside knowledge can be assets for a comeback.
Indeed, Jeff Kiernan, news director at WCCO, hired Tracy because he was familiar with his solid reporting and thought his respected stint at MU would make him a wiser journalist. “He learned a whole different set of skills,” says Kiernan, formerly news director at WTMJ-Channel 4 in Milwaukee.
Another journalist who came full circle is Mark Kass, a Business Journal veteran who was lead spokesman and lobbyist for MMSD from 1997-2002 before returning to the paper as editor in 2003. “I think you’re smarter when you come back. It’s made me a much better editor,” says Kass. “It’s pretty hard to spin me now. I’ve been both a spinner and a spinnee.”
Not everybody agrees that journalists can rebound from PR with their credibility intact.
Dan Bice of the Journal Sentinel’s “Spivak & Bice” column has turned down offers to be press secretary for politicians because it would end his journalism career, he argues. “It hurts your credibility, particularly if you work for a politician,” says Bice. “Once you’ve taken a paycheck from a partisan source, I’d have questions about your work. Are you independent or not?”
Good question. As the traditional lines between journalism and PR continue to blur, the public should be wary of these switch-hitters, says David Allen, chairman of UWM’s journalism and mass communications department.
“In public relations, you are advocating on behalf of a client. The journalist’s client is the public. The main concern is whether the public is getting accurate assessments of what’s really going on,” says Allen. “There are always going to be questions of credibility rearing their ugly heads.”
THE RIGHT WRITER A conservative voice from outside the ranks.
Promptly after hiring liberal columnist O. Ricardo Pimentel to be editorial page editor, the Journal Sentinel named a local conservative columnist to appear in Pimentel’s section. Hmmm, can you say balancing act?
The newspaper has long needed a local conservative voice to balance out its chorus of liberal columnists, and Patrick McIlheran, a 40-year-old Bryan, Texas, native, has already proved a charismatic and engaging columnist.
Curiously, McIlheran isn’t a writer at all. Editors recruited McIlheran, a full-time designer at the newspaper, despite having scores of writers on staff. It seems finding a conservative reporter at a daily paper is no easy trick.
How did editors know he was conservative? “I was out of the closet years ago,” laughs McIlheran.
